Category Archives: Staff Highlighter

Staff Highlighter: Yi Shan

What’s your title, and what do you do for UTL?

Yi Shan: My title is East Asian Studies Librarian. I manage all East Asian language materials at the UTL and support the research and teaching of East Asia-related topics and disciplines on UT campus.

Any library (UT or otherwise) memory worth sharing?

YS: I can never forget my research trip to the Seikado Bunko Library in Tokyo. It’s a relatively small private collection but holds some of the rarest and most valuable premodern Chinese books. The reading room rules are very strict. You have to leave your shoes outside (like many Japanese places), wash your hands, and leave your electronics before entering the reading room. Interestingly, however, you can eat (!) your lunch inside the reading room. There is a designated lunch table at least by the time of my visit in 2019.

I found a lot of valuable primary sources for my dissertation there, and the librarian was so kind, knowledgeable, and helpful. The most exciting story is that I was so lucky to stumble upon a presumably Ming dynasty (1368–1644) manuscript that one 18th-century collector that I studied rescued from a stack of old scrap paper.

You’ve lived in many places. How does Austin compare?

YS: Austin is such a lovely city! Having lived in a few giant cities, I find the size of Austin perfectly manageable. In some way, I surprisingly find that the view of Zilker and Barton Springs area resembles a lot to my hometown, Taiyuan, at least in the way it appears in my memory. I used to say that I was okay with the cold but not the heat. Now I guess I am getting there to make my body think otherwise. Anyway, I spent my college years in one of the most notorious four “oven” cities in China, and having survived last summer in Austin, I guess I can cope. But how the heat has been trending for the future does scare me a lot.


What’s something most people don’t know about you?

YS: I love to cook. This interest in culinary art started during my grad school, and I always went to the occasion cooking lessons at the student union. Another version of myself always dreams to own and operate a restaurant. I’m pretty familiar with cooking in Chinese, French, Italian, and Japanese styles, and now I am foraying into Thai. I like to bake as well, but the oven has not been treating me as kindly as the stove has. Or when I bake a cake, it starts to hate me. 

As a historian, what makes you gravitate to the past, and how does it influence your perspective on the future?

YS: Trained mostly as a premodernist, I think what makes me excited about the past is you really have to use imagination to understand it. There’s the saying that “past is a foreign country,” but I think it is more than that. It’s like a whole different phenomenological and ontological universe. By imagination, I don’t mean that historians are inventing things and events that never existed or happened. It is that we so often need to question the take-for-granted categories and ways we thought what the past was like.

I think the future, like the past, invites bold imaginations. Building a better future, like understanding the past, needs us both to engage and work with the structures we have today but also to break free from their constraints. It’s all about defamiliarizing the familiar and bravely embracing the unfamiliar with an open and empathetic heart.

I understand you may be a train enthusiast. What is it about trains?

YS: I think my enthusiasm for all mass-transportation vehicles, trains, civil aviation, etc, all comes down to my like to travel to faraway places. I spent a big chunk of my childhood in my grandparents’ apartment right next to a train station (the complex and the station share a wall). My grandfather would tell me, “Look, this train is bound for Beijing, that is for Shanghai, that is for Xi’an,” and I always wanted to take the trains to those places.

And most times I just like the feeling of being on the way, and it has to be a long way that you don’t have to constantly worry about missing your stop. The sound of a train ride or the engines of an aircraft kind of calms me down, and I like to read and write on my way. However, I do hate packing for a trip and spending time at a train station or an airport. 

Favorite book, movie or album?

YS: Min Jin Lee’s novel Pachinko is my favorite of all fiction (very few) I’ve read since 2019. Dream of the Red Chamber/Story of the Stone (Honglou meng) is an all-time favorite. Since 2022, I’ve been following the #readingthestone reading-together project (mostly listening to their podcasts) started by Prof. Eileen Chow at Duke University. If you are interested in getting small doses of this greatest piece of Chinese literature (in both original and translation), this is the perfect place to start.

Recently I’ve started Four Treasures of the Sky, a fiction inspired by the Dream of the Red Chamber, and I am loving it.

Favorite food or drink? Make it at home or go out (and where)?

YS: My favorite food recently is Cantonese roasted duck. Ho Ho Chinese Barbecue’s roasted duck is, so far, the best that I’ve found in town. It’s very difficult to make at home, and best to leave for the pros. 

What’s the future hold?

YS: There are so many new developments in Higher Education that make the future both exciting and scary. But knowledge/expertise and a strong collection should always be our best assets to embrace the challenges and grow from them. Right now, I am exploring OCR and automated textual processing of CJK (the library jargon for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) texts and also identifying strategic growth points for our East Asian collections.

In the long run, together with my UTL colleagues and the learning community on campus, I hope to build such a collection that makes UT a strong and unique resource for East Asian studies in the world. I hope this collection will not only serve the existing and emerging research and pedagogical needs but also foster, nurture, and inspire scholarly and pedagogical innovations.

Staff Highlighter: Erika Coronado

Today we meet Erika Coronado, who joined the Libraries in Februrary 2022 and spends her days landing content for our users and finding ways to stretch our budgets while doing so.


What made you decide to work in a library?

Erika Coronado: As someone who is an avid reader, I enjoy being surrounded by books. I love that working in libraries gives me access to thousands of books and many other valuable resources. I feel I work in paradise.

What’s your title, and what do you do for UTL?

EC: I am an Electronic Resources Coordinator and form part of the Content Management team. I am responsible for reviewing and negotiating the licenses of our e-resources, setting up library trials, collecting and maintaining usage statistics of e-resources, and assisting with some of the troubleshooting. I also help maintain the integrity of data within Alma.

What motivates you to wake up and go to work?

EC: I take great satisfaction in helping others and knowing that I can make a positive impact.

What are you most proud of in your job?

EC: The proudest moment for me is each time I realize I can save our library funds – either by negotiating quotes and getting a much lower cost, catching orders that can be canceled, or preventing purchases from happening either because we already own or have access to the resource.

What has been your best experience at the Libraries?

EC: The many good relationships I have developed during the time I have work for the Libraries. I work with such amazing and talented colleagues who are always willing to lend a hand. I am also grateful to work with a team that values and fosters learning, new ideas, and promotes growth.


What’s something most people don’t know about you?

EC: I spend a great deal of my time assembling jigsaw puzzles. I love all kinds, but especially the ones that challenge me!

Dogs or cats?

EC: I don’t have any pets, but I prefer dogs. I sometimes pet sit two dogs – a cute chubby Chihuahua (who is missing an eye) and a very friendly, energetic mutt.

Favorite book, movie or album?

EC: This is hard to answer, as I don’t have favorites. My favorite book genres are psychological thrillers, mystery, and crime novels. I love Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series. I also love books that keep me up at night. I am currently reading books by the author Alex North. I find his novels spooky and engrossing – his books are hard to put down.

Cook at home, or go out for dinner? What and/or where?

EC: I have bad eating habits as I tend to eat out most of the time. I usually prefer to explore food trucks over to restaurants, and since I like all kinds of cuisine, there are lots to choose from. One of my favorite places is Beirut Restaurant, a food truck that serves delicious Lebanese dishes.

What’s the future hold?

EC: Travel, read more, and continue learning!

Staff Highlighter: Kiana Fekette

Kiana Fekette came to the Libraries a couple of years ago and was recently named Head of Digitization. Learn a bit about this North Carolina transplant.


What’s your background, and how did you come to work at the Libraries?

It’s a very long, somewhat complicated story of how I got to UT Libraries! Academically, I have BA in Archaeology with a double major in History and an MA in Anthropology with a focus in archaeology. More broadly, I went to university knowing that I absolutely loved history and books but wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do until I happened into a student position within my university’s special collections library as a conservation lab assistant. I knew then I wanted to pursue book and paper conservation but several major life events got in the way and I found myself working for Internet Archive after getting my undergraduate degree. Several years and one master’s degree later, we moved to Austin to be closer to my husband’s family. I wanted to work in something to do with cultural heritage but didn’t have any one specific goal in mind which is how I ended up looking for different library and archive positions.

What’s your title, and talk a little bit about what you do?

As of very recently (May 24th) I am the Head of Digitization within the Digital Stewardship and Preservation unit. Prior to this, I was the Digital Reformatting Coordinator and I started in 2021. As I am still transitioning into my new role, the majority of my responsibilities have stayed the same. I coordinate and execute the digitization of collections materials which include audio-visual and book/paper items. Our unit works closely with library staff members and patrons to make our collections materials more widely accessible by offering them in a digital format. 

What motivates you to wake up and go to work?

 Knowing that so many people – both library staff and patrons – rely on the variety of resources produced by digitization. We’re not just taking high quality scans of items to keep on some random, inaccessible hard drive; our goal is to help others with the pursuit of knowledge and to ensure that these items are available for use across time and space.

What are you most proud of in your job?

Despite the small size of our unit, I am proud of the fact that we’re able to produce such a large quantity of archival-quality material for the library.

What has been your best experience at the Libraries?

 Any time the libraries staff is able to get together as a group is always such a fun time to meet new people and catch up with old friends. It’s always refreshing and reassuring to be in a space where you can truly feel the support for one another. 


What’s something most people don’t know about you?

I’ve moved around a lot – first as a military kid, then as a nomadic adult. I’ve lived in Oklahoma, all over central North Carolina, Washington state, Hawai’i, Massachusetts, Ireland, and now Texas. My family is originally from central Pennsylvania (if you can pronounce Schuylkill and Yuengling, or have ever been to Knoebels, please come and find me – I’m sure we have lots to talk about!).

Dogs or cats?

Both! (I have two cats and a dog at home)

Favorite book, movie or album?

Book: The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Movie: The Princess Bride or Pride and Prejudice (2005)

Album: I don’t necessarily have a favorite album but my favorite musician is Andrew Bird

Cook at home, or go out for dinner? What and/or where?

I enjoy cooking but I also get very bored with food very easily so I’m always willing to go out to get something I wouldn’t otherwise cook. One of our favorite spots is Turnstile on Burnet Road. They’re both a coffee shop and a full-service bar with great breakfast tacos and truly incredible burgers.

What’s the future hold?

I have no clue, and I’m perfectly okay with that! I’m finally settling down in one spot for the first time in quite a while.

Staff Highlighter: Lynn Bostwick

Now that Dell Medical has adequately settled in, related programs really need some extra support. Enter Lynn Bostwick, our new Liaison Librarian for Health Sciences.


What’s your background in libraries, and how did you decide on librarianship as a career?

I decided on librarianship as a career because I was inspired in part by my grandmother who worked at the law library at SMU in Dallas when I was growing up. I learned from her to never take the access to information for granted. I also worked for a time for a non-profit providing medical information and community resources to the public, and realized then that I enjoyed the work of helping people access the information they need, so librarianship was a good fit for me. My background is in academic libraries and is varied! It includes all different types of work from cataloging and metadata creation for digitized items to reference and circulation to collection development, instruction and providing research help.

What’s your title, and what do you do for the Libraries?

My title is Liaison Librarian for Health Sciences. I work with students and faculty in Nutrition, Nursing, Pharmacy and Public Health providing them with classes and research help. 

What motivates you to wake up and go to work?

Knowing I’ll have the opportunity to help someone or learn something each day. 

What are you most proud of in your job?

Providing a class to Nutrition students and seeing the results in their posters on display in the Union Ballroom.

What has been your best experience at the Libraries?

All the people I’ve met so far – super students, faculty and colleagues!
What’s something most people don’t know about you?

I LOVE football!

Dogs or cats?

I like dogs but have always had cats. We currently have a seal-point Siamese that rules our house. 

Favorite book, movie or album?

Tough question! Favorite album is Alkohol – Goran Bregovic. Years ago I got to see Bregovic perform with his band at Bass Concert Hall. 

Cook at home, or go out for dinner? What and/or where?

Both, but lately we’ve been going out to eat at Nori, a plant-based restaurant on Guadalupe that is so good!

What’s the future hold?

Catching up on travel post-pandemic and seeing more of the world!

Staff Highlighter: Kristin Walker

The UT Libraries is one of the largest global lenders in the world. How do those materials make it from here to there, there to here, then back again? Resource Delivery Librarian Kristin Walker knows. Let’s find out more about her work and her world.


What’s your title, and what do you do for the Libraries?

Kristin Walker: Head of Resource Delivery for Interlibrary Services. I manage the department that includes Interlibrary Loan, Get a Scan and Remote Delivery. We borrow and scan research materials for the UT Austin community. Our department fills in gaps within the UT Libraries’ collections and we are able to obtain almost everything for our users. We also ship books to graduate students and faculty that are in remote locations, provide scans for faculty to use in their course materials and we digitize UT Austin dissertations and theses.

What motivates you to wake up and go to work?

KW: I am motivated by knowing that so many UT Austin researchers depend on our department to supply them with the critical materials needed to complete their projects. It feels good to know that we can help them or make things easier in some small way.

What are you most proud of in your job?

KW: I am most proud when Interlibrary Services is mentioned as one of the most valuable services provided by the UT Libraries. 

ILS seems to be a bit of a quiet giant. How important is your department?

KW: Interlibrary loan is considered a critical library service to supplement library collections. No library owns every book or journal, so libraries share their collections with each other. A lot of what we do is behind the scenes, but it is all very necessary to the UT Austin community. It may seem like a mysterious process from the outside, but we use a mix of automation, research and a high level of staff training to make our work seamless to our users.

What has been your best experience at the Libraries?

KW: The best part of working at the Libraries is the people you interact with on a daily basis. My department interacts in some way with almost every other department in the Libraries and this has given me a wholistic insight as to how all of the parts work together.


What’s something most people don’t know about you?

KW: I love K-Dramas (Korean TV shows) and I’m learning Korean on Duolingo.

Dogs or cats?

KW: Cats! I currently have two black cats.

Favorite book, movie or album?

KW: Favorite Book: The Thought Gang by Tibor Fischer ISBN: 978-0684830797

Favorite Movie: Wings of Desire; Director Wim Wenders

Favorite Album: Aladdin Sane by David Bowie

Cook at home, or go out for dinner? What and/or where?

KW: I usually cook at home. I attempt a lot of Asian inspired recipes, but I also make simple soups and tray bakes.

What’s the future hold? 

KW: There is much more emphasis on digital collections, open access and accessibility as they apply to interlibrary loan and document delivery. Long term, I see copyright laws being revised and modernized to account for digital items.

Staff Highlighter: Alisha Quagliana

Meet Discovery Services Librarian Alisha Quagliana, who operates behind the curtain to make sure users can get to stuff, wherever they are.


What’s your title, and what do you do for the Libraries?

Discovery Systems Librarian, I manage our discovery system (Primo) as well as other systems related things within Alma and dealing with electronic resource access and discovery. I also manage the ticket system for access issues.

What motivates you to wake up and go to work?

Coffee? Seriously, I like figuring things out so between resolving access related issues and figuring out ways to get our systems to work better for us I spend a lot of time on puzzles, which I love.

What are you most proud of in your job?

I’m really proud of the ticketing system and the various desks we have now. We were early in setting up a system like this, 2009, and now we’ve migrated it to JIRA so it’s a real ticketing system. It really helps me resolve issues and spot trends so much faster.

What has been your best experience at the Libraries?

I think our migration to Alma and Primo was a great working experience. I learned a lot about other areas of the library and got to work closely with folks I hadn’t before and we forged a great team.

What’s something most people don’t know about you?

Most people probably don’t know that I ride in a Mardi Gras krewe in New Orleans. It is a ton of fun!

Dogs or cats?

Both, but I only have a dog now.

Favorite book, movie or album?

I read so much I cannot possibly pick a favorite book. I’m actually listening to The Godfather right now, it’s been many years since I’ve read it, and the audio version is very compelling. I’m really enjoying it.

Cook at home, or go out for dinner? What and/or where?

Both. Spaghetti and meatballs is one of my go to dishes to make. And our go to restaurant is probably Odd Duck since we can walk to it. 

What’s the future hold?

Immediate future for me is Mardi Gras! But long term I’m looking forward to getting some overdue clean-up projects completed and working on getting more of our cultural heritage materials into the discovery system.

Staff Highlighter: Haleigh Wyrostek

Meet Haleigh Wyrostek (Hay-Lee Why-Ross-Tech), PCL User Services Coordinator, and mostly landlocked marine biologist…


What’s your title, and what do you do for the Libraries?

User Services Coordinator (Sr. Library Specialist) at the PCL. I supervise the student assistants of the check-out desk and other various circulation and reference-based tasks.

What motivates you to wake up and go to work?

The student employees at the desk! Without doubt.

What are you most proud of in your job?

The relationships I’ve made with my colleagues and the students who work at the desk.

What has been your best experience at the Libraries?

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the sense of community I’ve gained through working here is the best part of the experience. With my coworkers, assuredly, but also with the students and faculty members I interact with at the desk. Everyone has opened their hearts to welcome me and that is not easy to do. I am very grateful, thank you everyone.

What’s something most people don’t know about you?

I ride motorcycles and scuba dive.

Favorite body of water? Why? (Sorry…this is a bit of cheat question.)

Atlantic Ocean! I’ve visited the ocean (mostly in Florida) my whole life and quickly became enamored. I actually got my BS in marine biology because of my love for the ocean.

Dogs or cats?

Dogs

Favorite book, movie or album?

Sooo hard.

Author – Anne Rice

Movie – Pride and Prejudice (2005)

Album – Parachutes by Coldplay

Cook at home, or go out for dinner? What and/or where?

Cook at home, mac and cheese!

What’s the future hold?

Due to the big changes I’ve experienced in my personal life lately, I take it day by day. I’ve been thinking about grad school. In terms of work, I look forward to learning more about the inner workings of the organization and its role in the university community overall.  I dream of strengthening the relationships between circulation staff and librarians. 

Staff Highlighter: Mabrouka Boukraa

You have to be a pretty resourceful human to work in HR, and it’s important to know who to turn to when you need some of those human resources.

Get to know Mabrouka Boukraa – who is closing in on a year at the Libraries, and has already made an impact.


What’s your title, and what do you do for the Libraries?

My title is Libraries Human Resources Representative.  My main focus is overseeing all student and hourly employment at the libraries, but I also assist with recruitments and a myriad of other HR tasks.

What motivates you to wake up and go to work?

I work with a great team and the work I do really supports other people, especially students.  I benefitted a lot from student employment when I was an undergraduate and it’s nice to be able to help others do the same.  I also like learning about the interesting projects other people are working on and the variety of materials and collections that exist across the libraries.

What are you most proud of in your job?

In my job I am proudest of the student wage increase implemented this past spring.  Although it was a stressful project for me it really felt great to be able to make a meaningful change.

What has been your best experience at the Libraries?

Hmm. Hard to pick!  I would say I have really enjoyed the staff events, such as the plant sale and the cookie party.  UTL has a lot of talented gardeners and chefs!

Which do you prefer: on campus or remote? Why?

I like the mix that hybrid offers.  Commuting is very time-consuming so it’s nice to have that time back when I’m remote, but I also like being in the office to interact with people face-to-face.  


What’s something most people don’t know about you?

For a variety of reasons with which I will not bore you my parents did not have a crib when I came home from the hospital as a newborn.  As a result I spent my first few nights at home sleeping in a drawer.  

Dogs or cats?

Dogs in theory, cats in practice.

Favorite book, movie or album?

My favorite movie is Disney’s Robin Hood. 

Breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert? What’s your favorite food or dish?

Olives are my all-time favorite food!  Not the canned variety, though.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

I see myself on a beach, possibly napping.

Staff Highlighter: Meryl Brodsky

These Libraries’ are nothing without the folks who keep the ship on course, even in stormy weather.

Meet Meryl Brodsky, Liaison Librarian for Communication, who joined the Libraries in September 2019, just before a storm….

What’s your title, and what do you do for the Libraries?

My title is Moody College of Communication & School of Information Librarian. I work with faculty and students from both of these schools to help them with research and classes. I teach information and data-related classes and workshops, create learning materials, and select materials for our collections. 

What motivates you to wake up and go to work?

I am constantly learning, whether it’s about student or faculty research projects or new technology, I get to learn new things every day.

What are you most proud of in your job? 

I recently co-edited a book with a former colleague on Data Literacy, that is teaching people to find, evaluate, use and manage data. The ACRL Data Literacy Cookbook will come out in about a year.

What has been your best experience at the Libraries?

My best experiences have all been working with people, whether they are colleagues, faculty, or students. I really enjoy co-creating with others.

Which do you prefer: on campus or remote? Why?

I have a lot of experience in remote work from past employment so I am pretty comfortable with remote, though I also like the energy of being on campus. 

What’s something most people don’t know about you?

Paper quilting by Meryl Brodsky

I have a keen interest in paper and card making. I’ve been obsessed with something I call paper quilting, that is cutting paper to create quilt patterns. 

Dogs or cats?

Cats, though right now, it’s just one, Tigger, who makes an occasional Zoom appearance.

Favorite book, movie or album?

Book: The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen

Breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert? What’s your favorite food or dish?

 Breakfast: Coffee!! Though, coffee is good any time.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

I hope to be upside down, have mastered a headstand.